Shipping case and storage chest



May 29, 1956 v H. A. FISCHER SHIPPING CASE AND STORAGE CHEST Filed March13, 1952 ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent D SHIPPING CASE AND STORAGE CHEST Harold A.Fischer, Park Ridge, 111., assignor to Compco Corporation, Chicago,11]., a corporation of Illinois Application March 13, 1952, Serial No.276,265

3 Claims. (Cl. 206-52) This invention relates to a shipping case andstorage chest. The invention is particularly useful in the storage offilm reels and cans and similar products.

It is now the practice to ship reels in ordinary shipping cases and forstorage the reels are placed in metal cases having recesses forreceiving the reels on end. The metal structure is expensive and ashipping case is required in addition to the storage chest. A metalstorage chest is wholly unsuitable as a. shipping case and is not usedfor that purpose, and the shipping case has been wholly unsatisfactoryas a storage chest and invariably has been discarded. It has beenbelieved to be impracticable to! provide a single chest serving both forshipment and for storage thereafter.

By a storage chest is meant a chest which the film. operator employs forreceiving the reels after use and for storing them until the reels areagain to be used.

An object of the present invention is to provide a structure which iseffective in rigidly supporting reels for shipment so as to preventinjury thereto while at the same time providing a storage chest forhousing the reels after the shipment is completed. A further object isto provide such a chest formed from inexpensive material such ascardboard, paper board, and other fiber board materials while providingspecial means for strengthening the case to withstand the blows andrough usage received in shipment and at the same time providing a tightand single housing for the reels as they are being used from time totime. A still further object is to provide a means or method forshipping and housing containers whereby the containers, such as reels,cans, etc., are held in acushioned support for shipment while at thesame time providing means for sealing the container tightly about thereels, etc. during the periods in which the reels are not. being used.Other specific objects and advantages will appear as the specificationproceeds.

The invention is shown, in an illustrative embodiment, by theaccompanying drawing, in which-- Figure 1 is a perspective view of acase or chest embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a view similar to Fig. 1but showing the cover of the chest in raised position; Fig. 3, atransverse sectional view, the section being taken as indicated at line3--3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a transverse sectional view, the section beingtaken as indicated at line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a plan view of theblank which has been die-cut preparatory for folding the structure intothe complete container; and Fig. 6, a top plan view with the cover cutaway from the rear wall of the case or chest.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 5, which shows the blank which isdie-cut preparatory to the forming of the chest or case, and 11 indicatethe portions which will form the ends of the case. 12 indicates a sidewall or front wall of the box which is adapted to be folded over along amedian line 13 and which is provided centrally with a slot 14 forpurposes which will be hereinafter set out. When folded over, theforward wall of the struc- 2,747,732 Patented May 29, 1956 ture 12 isindicated by the numeral 15, and the rear wall is indicated by thenumeral 16.

The other side wall or rear wall is indicated by the numeral 17 in Fig.5. To the end wall 10 is attached a securing strap 18 which may befolded over for locking the side and end walls together, being securedby staples, adhesive, or other means.

The bottom wall of the chest maybe formed by any suitable means.Conventional means are shown in Fig. 5, the end 10 being provided with abottom flap 19, the front 12 being provided with a bottom flap 20, theend 11 being provided with a bottom flap 21, and the side wall or backwall 17 being provided with a bottom flap 22. The flaps 19, 20, and 21and 22 may be folded over in interlocking relation, as illustrated inFig. 3, to form a bottom closure. It will be understood, however, thatany suitable flap structure may be employed, and, if desired, adhesiveor staples may be used for securing suclr flaps together in a well-knownmanner.

Secured to the upper end of end 10 and forming an. extension thereof, isa reinforcing inner end wall 23, which may be folded over to form areinforcing inner end wall. Similarly, an inner end wall 24 is formedintegrally with the end 11 and may be folded over to provide areinforcing inner wall lying adjacent Wall 11, as shown more clearly inFig. 4.

In Fig. 5, the cover is indicated by the numeral 25 and there is a coverextension or front flap 26 which is adapted to extend down to meet thetop edge of the folded front wall 12. The flap 26 is provided with anintegral, depending tongue 27 adapted to engage the slot 14 to lock thecover in closed position.

When the blank as shown in'Fig. 5 has been folded uponitself to provideend, front and rear walls, a bottom wall and a cover therefor, the frontwall 12 being folded along median line 13 and the reinforcing inner endwalls 23 and 24 being folded inside the case, a structure is producedsuch as is shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6. In this structure, it willbenoted that the end walls 11 and 24 and 10 and 23 provide a sturdy,braced side wall upon which the top or cover 25 of the chest rests. Tosecure the inner front wall 16 tightly in position and to provide africtional engagement with the tongue 27. when; the sameis insertedthrough slot 14, I providean inner reel support 28 which is in the shape'of an'inverted U having front and rear legs 29 and a topwall orplatform 30 provided with spaced slots 31 for receiving reels 32. Such abrace structure 28 presses forwardly against the folded wall 16 andcauses it to tightly grasp the tongue 27 when it is inserted throughslot 14.

In the bottom of the chest I place a fibrous board 33 having its centralportion arched as indicated at 34 and with the arched portions cut awayto provide slots 35 receiving the reels 32. The slots 35 in the arches34 are vertically aligned with the slots 31 so that each reel extendsfirst through the upper slot 31 of the platform 30 and then through thealigned slot 35 in the arch support 34 therebelow.

The bottom Wall is formed in a well-known manner by the interlocking ofthe flaps 19, 20, 21 and 22, and it will be understood that instead ofsuch flaps, any suitable overlapping of plain flaps may be used whichare secured together by staples, adhesive or other means.

In the operation of the structure, the reels or cans 32. may be insertedinto the open case through the slots 31 of the platform 30 and thecorresponding slots 35 in the arch portion 34 of member 33. The cover 25may then be drawn downwardly and latched firmly in position by pressingthe tongue 27 within the slot 14, where it is tightly and frictionallyheld between the walls 16 and 15. In this structure, the top 25 thusrests upon the double end walls 10 and 23 and 11 and 24, while thebottom edge of the closure flap 26 rests upon the top: double edge 13 ofthe front wall 12. An extremely sturdy structure is thus provided forshipping the reels and during shipment the reels are supported firmlyand in cushioned relation within the case by the members 28 and 33.After the case has been received bythe purchaser, it is still highlyserviceable as a chest for keeping the reels as they are to be used fromtime to time. The cover 25 may be raised to expose all of the reels, andafter selected reels have been used and replaced, the chest may besealed by pressing the cover down and the tongue 27 again into latchingposition within the slot 14.

I have found that a case of highly resilient and sturdy structure can beproduced by using cardboard, corrugated board, paper board, fiber board,and various other types of fibrous board material. The finishedcontainer may be coated with a metal paint or lacquer or other suitablematerial to give it the desired finish. It is found that not only is itnow unnecessary to employ two separate cases, one for shipping and onefor storing, but also better results are obtained in the shipping of thereels or cans because of the cushioning and resilient support for thereels, while later in the utilization of the case as a storage chest, itis found that rattling or vibrating of the cans or reels, which tends toremove their finish, etc., is avoided because of the tight gripping ofthe reels by the fibrous material and the resilient support of them inthe suspended positions illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.

As shown more clearly in Figs. 2 and 3, the slots 31 extend transverselyof the platform 30 and almost across the platform. When the reels 32 arereceived within such slots, the reels themselves form a reinforcingframe which buttresses the platform member, and the downward pressure ofthe reels, when inserted within the slots, aids in urging the forwardleg 29 of the support 28 tightly against the inner wall 16 to maintainthe inner wall 16 in friction-tight relationship with the tongue 27 ofthe closure flap 26.

While in the foregoing specification I have set forth a specificstructure in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating anembodiment of the invention, it will be understood that such details ofstructure may be varied widely by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a chest of the character set forth, a board of fibrous materialfolded upon itself to provide bottom, end, top, front sidewalls and rearsidewalls, the end walls being double walls and the front wall beingfolded upon itself along a median line to provide a double wall ofreduced height, the front wall being provided with at least one slotalong its top edge, said top wall normally resting upon the top of thedouble end walls and being provided with a closure flap normallyresting, in closed position, upon the top edge of the folded front wall,said closure flap being provided with a latch tongue adapted to extendthrough the slot in said front wall, a pair of spaced members extendingbetween the front and rear walls and provided with aligned slots, andreels received within the slots of said spaced members.

2. In a chest of the character set forth, a board of fibrous materialfolded upon itself to provide bottom, end, top, front side walls andrear sidewalls, the end walls being double walls and the front wallbeing folded upon itself along a median line to provide a double wall ofreduced height, the front wall being provided with at least one slotalong its top edge, said top wall normally, resting upon the top of thedouble end walls and being provided with a closure flap normallyresting, in closed position, upon the top edge of the folded front wall,said closure flap being provided with a latch tongue adapted to extendthrough the slot in said front wall, and support means extending betweenthe front and rear walls and being provided with slots adapted toreceive reels therein, said support means comprising an invertedU-shaped member extending from the front to the rear wall of the chest,said U-shaped member providing a platform spaced above the bottom wallof said chest and a V-shaped support member mounted below said platform,said platform and V-shaped member having aligned slots adapted toreceive film reels therein.

3. The structure of claim 2 in which said U-shaped member pressesagainst the inner folded wall of said front wall for frictionallypressing the same against said latch tongue.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,901,583 Conway Mar. 14, 1933 2,199,204 Levkotf Apr. 30, 1940 2,258,716Ralph et al. Oct. 14, 1941 2,358,943 Smith Sept. 26, 1944 2,511,542 RauJune 30, 1950

